As an adult with a family and responsibilities, I have less time than ever for video games. My gaming these days consists largely of 30 minute Mario Kart sessions a few times a week.

BUT...I do often enjoy watching Twitch and some speedrunning videos on YouTube. As well as some “Let’s Play” videos here and there.

And To be honest, I enjoy watching others play via those methods as I do playing myself. I’ve always thought that gaming with others is a thousand times more fun than by yourself, and since that’s a rarity for me these days*, watching others play online gives some since of social gaming.

*i do play with my young kids at times, but that’s a different experience altogether, and not typically games I would pick. Lol.

I never really cared for watching strangers play online, but apparently there is a big market for it! I can't get over the popularity of services like Twitch. Maybe these are younger gamers with a lot of time on their hands?

For me, it’s like a TV show*. If a streamer is playing a game I’m interested in AND there’s good commentary, it’s interessting. if the streamer is boring or tries too hard, no thanks. Here’s an older example of some good commentary:

I like watching speedruns and find them highly entertaining. I have also found videos showing tournament matches (high level play) of certain games to be a lot of fun.

However, that is about to the extent I enjoy watching other people play.

One thing I like, that wasn't covered in the original post, is watching game reviews and historical documentaries on video games. I watch a lot of these on Youtube, which really isn't about watching the person play the game, but more about the person's view on the game and their impressions. By far, I watch these the most, and like you, I spend a lot of time each week watching these types of videos.

Rev wrote:I like watching speedruns and find them highly entertaining. I have also found videos showing tournament matches (high level play) of certain games to be a lot of fun.

However, that is about to the extent I enjoy watching other people play.

One thing I like, that wasn't covered in the original post, is watching game reviews and historical documentaries on video games. I watch a lot of these on Youtube, which really isn't about watching the person play the game, but more about the person's view on the game and their impressions. By far, I watch these the most, and like you, I spend a lot of time each week watching these types of videos.

Cool. Speedrun tourneys are great and there are races for just every game, even RPGs. My favorites are the Super Metroid races, because there are a lot of different categories and the top tier racers are insane. But, The most popular races (by far) are the Link to the Past randomizers, though I’ve never gotten into them.

I feel like this forum skews towards the older, 30 plus side, so most people here probably don’t understand it. I don’t generally watch other people myself, unless I’m looking for a hint on what to do, but I liken it to sports, or watching poker, or any other game on TV. It’s really not any less stupid than watching other people play sports , but it’s so ingrained in our society that it’s totally normal. Seeing (mostly) adult men walking around wearing the jersey that has another dude’s name on his back is pretty stupid too, but I used to in college, and some of my friends still do.

The only things I tend to watch seem to be Super Mario Maker videos (mostly enjoy the total randomness of the "super expert" levels and the chops of the players) and the occasional "tool assisted" Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 run...again, because it looks very random and extra-ordinary. I think superplays can be entertaining but I don't personally watch them. I tried to watch some competitive matches (mainly fighting games) but got bored after a couple of minutes. I do watch chess and backgammon games though, which I'm sure would bore most people to death.

Youtube game reviews I really dislike. Video reviews that are functional to the consumer (that is, they tell you if the game is worth your time and money) are very few and far between, with most "critics" trying to indoctrinate their audience about this or that, even though most of these "critics" I have seen appear to have no credential nor qualification to do so. It's basically random people with a capture card and a mike talking to random people without a capture card and a mike. Plus everything seem to be so apologetic and always comes in the form of a comedy show for some reason.

Historical documentaries on video games I kinda dislike for the same reason. There's only a few people who go the extra mile to find information that you can't find in the first page of the Google results. I enjoy watching videos from the perspective of people outside of the US/UK/first world realm though. What were people from Brazil, Russia or China playing while Nintendo and Sega were conquering the first world market and stuff like that - I find it really interesting, if only there were more.

I'm really picky about which Let's Players I watch. I love Peanutbuttergamer's Minecraft/Terraria/whatever else he plays Hardcore series because 1. most of the players are hilarious and work really good together, 2. if they die they can't respawn, so there are real stakes because the show can end at any time. When a player dies and you know you won't see them again for the rest of the series, it feels like watching your favorite character die in a tv show. And 3. Those games are randomly generated and encourage creativity, so it's cool to see how they'll improvise to achieve their goals.

I also like watching ProJared Plays because he's a master at improvising hilarious commentary no matter what's happening. Other LP channels, like GameGrumps, will just yell and cuss at the tv when they die, and to me that's just juvenile. ProJared's Let's Plays are like watching a game-themed comedy show. Still, I won't watch just anything he uploads. It has to be a game I'm actually interested in.

I actually like channels that are themed around video games more than I like Let's Play channels. People like Caddicarus, or PBG's or ProJared's main channels, who make reviews and top ten lists about random subjects, are some of my favorite things on the internet.

I do like to watch others play, while I relax with a drink which is reducing my hand-eye coordination anyway. For example, I bought Arkham City years back, watched Cafeman Jr beat it, but never played it myself; and last month bought PS4 Spider-man, watched Cafeman Jr beat it, but I've only swung around the city, so far.

Was visitng, and ended up seeing an Overwatch championship on tv. I can say it was a horrible television experience. Modern POV games, in general, are ungainly to watch for me. Its like when people take home video and move the camera quickly, oddly, or often. A good viewing experience needs limited camera movements.

However, watching a 2D speedrun or someone show their mastery on a game with a more static display is okay.